The Explorers Club
№ CCXLVII - Chiune Sugihara (1900-1986), Righteous among the Nations.







Zooey Deschanel Appreciation Day
I was typing away, only half-listening to Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, followed by Sex Bob-omb, when began "Sentimental Heart" by She & Him; it would have knocked my socks off if it wasn't too verdammt hot to be wearing socks. "Sentimental Heart" would have been a shoo-in for the R.B.D.S.O.T.D. if I hadn't arisen this morning with Séan McCann's "Sooner or Later" already in my head. Not enough of Mrs. Gibbard is seen these days; let us hope that her sitcom New Girl proves a Raising Hope-like exception to the banality of its genre.



The Queue
I've now read thirteen novels by Len Deighton, the ten volumes of the Bernard Samson series (a trilogy of trilogies & a prequel published 'twixt the first & second trilogies) & three stand-alone yarns, Horse Under Water, XPD, & SS-GB. The singles were all written prior to the decalogy, & none are its equal. There are of course going to be variations of quality in a canon as lengthy & prolific as Deighton's, peaks & valleys, but there is also the possibility of a long-term upward trend. When next I read Deighton I shall select one of the novels written during the long interregnum 'tween the second & third trilogies. I also remain open to the very real possibility that the Bernard Samson decalogy is his masterpiece (nothing to scoff at in that, it is quite a masterpiece); I've read the best, how much do I want to read of the rest?

I am № 1 in the Genesee District Library's queue for Carte Blanche; a copy is waiting to be claimed at Grand Blanc's McFarlen Library. Barring misadventure, I will fetch it first thing Thursday morning. I began this vigil as № 68, the sage words of Rudyard Kipling's "If—" foremost in my mind: "If you can wait and not be tired by waiting…." Let us hope that good things do indeed come to those who wait.

Recently
John le Carré, Smiley's People
Steve Matchett, Life in the Fast Lane: The Inside Story of Benetton's First World Championship
Len Deighton, SS-GB

Currently
Jeffery Deaver, Carte Blanche ***soonest***

Presently
Robert M. Soderstrom, The Big House: Fielding H. Yost and the Building of Michigan Stadium
John Buchan, The Thirty-nine Steps
Keith Jeffery, The Secret History of M.I.6: 1909-1949
Allen Dulles, The Craft of Intelligence
William F. Buckley, Jr., Saving the Queen